Girls and Boys
by Caitlyn Rose
Summary: Seth and Summer meet in college. Love at first sight? Not exactly.
1. Prologue

Alright, i know i should probably be concentrating on The Road To Nowhere (i have actually written some for that, but not enough for an update), but i thought of this and i just wanted to write it for fun. It will be multi-chaptered but not too long. Enjoy :)

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**Prologue **

Marissa Cooper stepped into her small apartment looking as if she'd just won the lottery. 'Hey Sum,' she called, dropping her purse on a chair and draping her jacket over the back of it. On receiving no reply, she glanced over to see her friend glued to a 'Golden Girls' marathon and smiled.

She walked the short distance to the living area and waved a hand in front of Summer's face. 'Hello! Earth to Summer!' she said, in a sing-song voice, before flopping down on the couch herself.

Summer swiped at Marissa's hand but didn't take her eyes from the television. 'Hey, you're back. Have fun with Russell?'

Marissa sighed. '_Ryan_. His name is _Ryan_. And yes, I did, thank you. I mean, it was just lunch, but he's great.'

Summer reached for the remote and muted the sound of the television. 'You really like him, huh? She asked, turning to face Marissa.

'I dunno,' Marissa shrugged. 'I've only known him two weeks. And I totally wasn't looking for a relationship right now - I'd prefer not to flunk out of my first semester in college – but still. Sometimes these things happen when you least expect it.'

'Like fate?' Summer asked, rolling her eyes, and nearly had a coronary as friend blushed in response. 'O-_kay_.' Summer hid her surprise. 'So, when am I going to meet this one?' she asked.

Marissa frowned and pretended to think. 'Huh. We'll let's see, today's Saturday so … 'never' would work for me.'

'Coop! Come on! You won't let me meet him? Why can't I meet him!' she whined.

'Because!' Marissa answered. 'I know you Summer - you'll completely annihilate the poor guy! You have never liked a single guy I've dated.

'That's not true!' Summer exclaimed. 'I liked Pete Caufield.'

Marissa raised an eyebrow incredulously. 'We were eleven, Summer.'

'He was still sweet! And is it my fault that puberty hit and you starting going out with complete jerks?'

'Hey!' Marissa defended, 'they were not … actually, yeah, a lot of 'em did turn out to be jerks,' she admitted.

'See! So just let me meet this guy Ryan, I'll tell you if he's a keeper and it'll save us all a lot of trouble.'

Marissa made a face, knowing that she would almost certainly regret this decision as the point which marked the ruin of her new relationship. 'Fine,' she relented. 'We can all go do something next week. Just … be nice to him, ok?'

Summer smiled triumphantly. Marissa was really too easy - she caved in a matter of seconds. 'Don't worry Coop, I'll be on my best behaviour.'

* * *

'No.' Summer stated blankly. 'Just …no.' 

'Come on,' Marissa pleaded. 'It'll be fun, I promise. You said you wanted to meet Ryan.'

'When I said I wanted to meet Ryan, I mean brunch, I meant coffee, I maybe even meant the movies. I did _not_ mean a _double date_,' Summer answered, saying the last words as if they were a particularly nasty STI.

'I know, I know. But it was all Ryan's idea, I promise,' Marissa said, feeling this disclaimer to be necessary in order to protect herself from the effects of a rage blackout, but immediately afterward realising that it probably wasn't the best way to endear her new sort-of-boyfriend to an already over-protective Summer.

Summer folded her arms across her chest and frowned. 'Can't you cancel it?'

Marissa's honey curls bounced as she shook her head. 'I already said yes, Sum. Please come. For me. It's only one night.'

'Ok,' Summer conceded, after a slight pause. 'I'll do it for you. But,' she added, with a wry smile, 'we are not ordering entrées or desserts.

'I think I can live with that,' Marissa laughed.

'So, when are we going anyway?' Summer asked casually.

'Well,' Marissa shifted uncomfortably, knowing the reaction would not be pretty. 'See, this is the thing Sum. It's tonight.'

'Tonight? _Tonight_? Coop! How could you do this to me? Look at me, I'm a mess!'

'But hey, at least you're not being dramatic about this,' Marissa said sarcastically, casting a well-trained eye over her best friend. Summer wore a pair of dark denim jeans and a plain, sky-blue tee-shirt, with her hair clipped up in a loose bun. As far as Marissa could see, there were no major issues.

'You look great,' she replied, in what she hoped to be a comforting tone and slipped an arm around Summer's tiny waist. 'Just put on a dress or something and we'll go. It's only one night, remember?'

'I cannot believe I let you talk me into this,' Summer commented, walking towards her bedroom and gesturing for Marissa to follow her.

'I bet the guy's a total geek, too,' she continued. 'I mean, you go on a double date, it obviously means that you're neither confidant nor hot enough to just walk up to someone and ask them out. Same rules apply for a blind date,' Summer concluded, as she rooted through her closet, periodically selecting a dress and adding it to the shortlist which was accumulating on her bed.

'Actually,' Marissa replied, 'he's Ryan's brother. Or half brother, or adopted brother or something like that – I wasn't really listening. But anyway, apparently he has 'quite a way with the ladies.' That's a direct quote, by the way.'

Summer peeled her tee-shirt off in one fluid motion and wriggled out of her jeans. 'Thank you Marissa,' she said dryly, 'you can always be counted upon for accuracy.' Summer picked two dresses from her bed, still on their hangers, and alternated holding them up against herself. 'Which one?' she asked.

'Uh ….' Marissa considered it for a second. 'First one. Definitely,' she decided.

Summer pulled the chosen item over her head and viewed herself critically in the mirror. The dress was black chiffon and held up by thin spaghetti straps. It dipped slightly in a sweetheart neckline and fell gracefully to the knee. It floated easily over soft, bronzed skin and hinted at every curve.

Marissa put down a pair of shoes in front of her friend, sprayed them both with 'Ghost' perfume, and handed Summer a deep red lip gloss. Both girls smiled. 'Little black dress can work miracles, huh?'

* * *

The guys were already seated when Summer and Marissa arrived, but stood up to greet them. Ryan stepped forward to kiss Marissa on the cheek and Summer felt ready to puke as she watched them debate who missed who more. She extended a hand to the guy on Ryan's right. 

'I guess you're the mystery man,' she said playfully.

'So it seems, he replied with a smile.

'You have a name?' she enquired.

'Yes.'

'What, is it, like, a secret?'

'Wouldn't you like to know?' he asked rhetorically, grinning infuriatingly as they all sat.

Summer sighed internally and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She got it – he was _that_ guy. Fancied himself as a charmer and expected every woman he met to fall for it. Clearly, he had never felt the scathing effects of Summer Roberts' tongue.

He seemed rather put out when Summer didn't continue their banter, but instead leaned across the table towards Ryan.

'So Ryan,' she asked, 'how are you two related? I'm Summer, by the way.'

'Hey, Ryan Cohen,' he replied easily, reaching over to shake her hand. 'And, uh, Seth and I are brothers.'

'Seth Cohen,' Summer muttered, glancing the man in question, her eyes glinting.

'I'm impressed,' Seth said dryly, looking rather amused. 'Usually takes the girls at least a quarter of an hour.'

Summer propped her elbow on the edge of the table and rested her chin in her hand. She elevated herself forward slightly and looked him directly in the eye. 'Cohen?' she said, raising an eyebrow. 'I realise I haven't known you very long, but I think I can pretty safely say, that I'm not like the other girls.'

Seth didn't quite know how to respond so he simply nodded. 'I'll remember that.' He said softly, as she returned, nonchalantly, to perusing the menu. Seth was beginning to realise that pissing this woman off was the sexiest thing he'd ever experienced. In the candlelit restaurant, with strands of dark hair tumbling over equally dark eyes and, of course, _that dress, _he found her captivating. But since she seemed intent on being _such_ a pain in the ass, there was really no need for her to know such information.

Ryan and Marissa, meanwhile, had watched their encounter curiously. This was a far cry from the 'getting-to-know-you' pleasantries they had expected to be exchanging. Marissa felt it was time things got back on track.

'Hey Summer, Ryan and Seth are from Newport Beach. Isn't that funny?' she asked amicably.

'Small world huh?' was Summer's only answer.

'Where are you guys from?' Seth asked.

'Laguna Beach. We're neighbours!' Marissa laughed.

Seth smiled politely, 'So, how's UCLA treating you?'

The question was obviously directed towards Summer, but all of a sudden, she became very preoccupied with the bread-roll she was currently buttering. Fortunately, the waiter arrived to take their orders, and everyone was spared the awkward moment.

XXXXXXX

Even when the appetisers had been and gone, the situation hadn't improved any. Marissa knew Ryan wasn't a big talker at the best of times, and she suspected he was kind of terrified of her best friend. Seth and Summer – she didn't know what was going on there. They traded insults in low, sultry tones and their gaze was unflinching and intense, as if one was constantly challenging the other. Well, they could continue their screwball mating ritual elsewhere, because the silence was just about killing Marissa.

'You know,' she announced, to no-one in particular, 'Summer's related to Tom Cruise.' Her voice had a cheerful, desperate quality and she really couldn't fathom where that had come from.

'Cool!' Ryan said, with pathetic lack of conviction. 'How's that?'

'Uh, he's my dad's second cousin. I've never met him or anything.' Summer replied, wondering, not for the first time, if her friend was on some kind of medication.

'Oh.' Ryan answered weakly, lifting his G&T and talking a long drink.

Once again, the silence invaded the table and it lasted. And once again, it was Marissa who broke it.

'I'm just going to the restroom,' she said hurriedly, apparently ready to admit defeat.

Three pairs of eyes followed Marissa as she walked away.'Well, Ryan,' Summer began, 'I guesss this is where I ask you about your intentions towards Marissa.'

'What are you, her father?' Ryan joked lightly.

'Worse.' Summer answered chirpily. 'I'm her best friend.'

'Um …' Ryan gulped. 'Well, Summer, I, uh, I really like her and … was that … did Marissa go to the bathroom? Cause I was just about to say … I mean … it was really nice talking to you Summer.'

And with that, Ryan practically sprinted towards the men's room.

'Summer raised her drink to her lips and looked at Seth, a small smile playing on her lips. 'Something I said?' she asked innocently.

* * *

'Oh my God, Coop!' Summer screeched, when the arrived back at their apartment. 'What the hell were you and Ryan doing in that bathroom! You left me _alone _with Seth for twenty minutes!' 

A blush rose in Marissa's cheeks and she looked inexplicably amused.'What did you guys talk about?'

'He said ... you know what, you don't wanna know. Ugh, he is the most annoying person in the world! And, I mean, he's not even that cute!'

'So you think he's cute then? Or at least, relatively cute? Oh, and Ryan told me about your little interrogation by the way.'

'Oh yeah,' Summer giggled at the recollection. 'Thought I'd shake things up a bit. You should have seen him, I think he was turning green. And to go back to your original question, yes, compared to, say, Shrek or The Cookie Monster, Seth Cohen is somewhat attractive. Compared to the remainder of the guys on the planet …? Well, he has good hair, I'll give him that. Pity about the big fat head.'

'Summer!' Marissa scolded, but she couldn't help laughing. 'He's not like that! Honestly, I talked to him when you were getting the cab. He's funny.'

'No, Marissa,' Summer replied witheringly, tugging off her shoes. 'He is not _funny_. He's a wise-cracking smart-ass who thinks he's the shit. There's a subtle but substantial difference.'

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Well, that was just the prologue - let me know what you thought and if you would be interested in more :) 


	2. Chapter 1

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**Three Months Later**

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Summer propped her sunglasses up on her head and entered the dim light of 'Emmerson and Son' attorney's office. It was a Friday afternoon; she had at least three papers to write and, now more than ever, alphabetizing client files and answering the telephone seemed a particularly unappealing prospect. 

The clicking of her heels against a polished marble floor reverberated as Summer stepped onto the elevator and began to smooth out her hair in the mirror which covered the entire rear wall.

'Admiring yourself?' A voice came from nowhere.

Summer did a double take. A figure appeared next to her in the mirror. She turned around to face him. 'You,' she said silkily.

'What floor?' she continued swiftly, before he had a chance to talk.

'Nine. Thanks.'

Summer raised an eyebrow. 'No problem.'

The elevator door shut with a ping and Summer was not a happy girl. Of all the people in the world to be stuck in a confined space with - however short the duration - it _had_ to be Seth Cohen. Satan was definitely laughing.

'So, what brings you here, Miss Summer?' his voice interrupted her thoughts. 'You're not being sued by anyone are you?' Seth asked mischievously, and Summer found herself wishing he wouldn't lean against the railing in quite such a charismatic pose.

'_No_,' she replied irritably. 'I work here. Not that it's any of your business.'

'Really? You got a job? And what's prompted this new venture?'

Summer rolled her eyes. 'Marissa made me,' she said pettily. 'Well, she made both of us actually. We're living off-campus and you know how it is. Our landlord doesn't accept gummy bears or sexual favours, so what's a girl to do?' she finished airily.

Seth said nothing, but Summer saw a flicker of something like admiration in his eyes and felt oddly victorious. 'What about you, mystery man? What are _you _doing here?' she asked, curiosity getting the better of her, as the elevator doors slid open.

Seth grinned like a Cheshire cat. 'Oh, I work here,' he said, smugly.

'What?' Summer questioned incredulously. 'Since when?'

The both stepped onto the tiled hallway at the same instant, and Seth stared intently at his watch.

'Ohh,' he considered, 'about ten minutes ago.' With another charming smile he took off down the corridor, knowing she was watching him every step of the way.

* * *

Not much, i know. I have more written, but i thought it would work better as a separate chapter, so look out for that within the next few days. Thanks so much for the reviews last time - they're always very encouraging! 


	3. Chapter 2

Huge thanks is due for the reviews last time. I never want to be one of those people who says 'i won't update until i get x amount of reviews' - but it is definitely very encouraging for me to know that people are reading, so thanks :)

* * *

Seth barged into the staff lounge and slammed the door a little harder than intended. It could be safely assumed that he had not had the most successful of afternoons. At least, he thought, there was no-one there to hear him.

'Hey, look, it's Hurricane Cohen.' Came an amused voice.

Or not.

Summer was curled up on a soft-backed corner chair, nursing a mug of steaming coffee, flicking through 'People' and looking really rather pleased with herself. 'Bad day?' she enquired softly.

'Mmm,' he muttered, walking over to the coffee machine and flipping the switch. 'I mean, I thought I was actually here to learn something!' he exploded, gesturing frantically. 'Turns out, I'm pretty much just a waiter for the entire ninth floor.'

Summer smiled wryly and returned to her magazine. 'Welcome to my world.'

Seth pulled a crumpled sheet of paper from his back pocket. Lawyers sure hade very specific requirements. Could they really tell if the milk was full or half fat? He wearily set about collecting 4 mugs and 6 cups and lined them up along the counter. He was nothing if not prepared.

'So,' Summer spoke again from across the room, 'you're telling me you came here by choice?'

Seth smiled to himself. Obviously she had spent the last few minutes trying to process the logic such a decision in her brain and had come up with nada. 'Well,' he explained, 'my professor thought it would be a good idea if I had some hands-on experience, y'know? So far, my résumé's one big blank.'

'You want to be a lawyer?' she asked.

Seth nodded in response and shrugged his shoulders.

'You'd make a good lawyer,' Summer replied, smiling, and Seth had a funny feeling it wasn't a compliment. Or maybe it was. He just couldn't figure this girl out. Formerly, in his brain, there were really only three categories of female. The first was the 'relatives' category and it was home to his mother, his grandmother, and his three aunts. After that, came 'hot girls,' which was followed by 'smart girls.' In his experience, these two factors were always mutually exclusive.

But, he was having a hard time categorizing Summer. He was pretty sure she wasn't related, but, then, he assumed Ryan too had naively jumped to this conclusion when he first started dating the girl who would become 'Aunt' Lindsay. He made a mental note to check that out and it swiftly became just another thought filed under 'to think about later.'

Ultimately, he decided, his problem lay within the final two groupings. Summer, he knew, was most definitely one very smart girl. Well, she was in college, for starters – that's always a good sign. But it was more than that. She was razor-sharp and witty and had this confident 'don't give me bullshit' attitude that Seth imagined could be quite endearing if her annoyance was directed somewhere other than him once in a while. He glanced furtively backwards at her as he loaded heaped teaspoons of sugar into three of the mugs before him. _Oh, God. There it was_.

Tumbling waves of chocolate brown hair fell to mid-way down her back and she absently brushed aside a few strands that covered her face as she scanned the pages of her magazine. Which brought Seth to another point. Like he needed one. Big beautiful brown eyes that always seemed to be laughing at him. Add to that, smooth golden skin, pouty lips and a killer smile and what have you got? Your basic nightmare.

Seth sighed to himself. There was no getting away from it. Summer was hot. Scorching, in fact. Personally, he didn't really find her attractive though. Much.

After the futility of this self-analysis, Seth resigned himself to the possibility that he might have to make a whole new category in his brain, just for Summer, and he very much resented the upheaval.

He sat down opposite her and waited for the coffee to brew. She had down discarded her magazine and was just … _looking _at him, while taking the occasional sip from her mug. Every second felt like an hour.

'So.' Seth commented, awkwardly. 'Ryan and Marissa are still going strong.'

'Yep. It's almost enough to make you sick, isn't it?' Summer replied, though her tone was nowhere near as harsh as her words.

'Well, it would,' Seth considered slowly. 'That is, if I wasn't happily in love myself.'

Summer nearly spat out her coffee. 'You're … you're what now?' she chocked.

Seth knew she had heard him, and, in his head at least, he was punching the air. He didn't know why provoking a reaction from her felt like a personal triumph but didn't question it, instead raising an eyebrow enquiring, 'Why so surprised?'

Summer composed herself. 'Well, it's just, who would have you, Cohen?' she asked cynically, and there was genuine confusion in her tone.

Seth rolled his eyes in response. 'You know, some people would find that offensive.'

'Seth. If everybody worried about what some people might find offensive, then nothing would ever get said,' she replied practically. 'So what's she like?'

'Krista? She's, uh, she's … blonde.' He finished lamely.

Summer nodded. She got it. 'Big boobs?' she asked nonchalantly.

Seth considered the question. 'Yes,' he concluded simply. 'How about you Miss Summer, no lucky guy thawed your icy heart yet?'

Summer gathered her belongings and stood up, straightening her skirt. 'That's for me to know,' she said playfully.

'And me to find out?' Seth asked dryly, as she walked away.

Summer stood in the doorframe and regarded him patronisingly. 'Doubtful,' she replied, and then, after a beat, 'I think your coffee's brewed.'

And just like that, she was gone.

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Meh. Not to sure about that one, but i hope you liked. Next update soon - i already have it written :) 


	4. Chapter 3

To all/any of you who reviewed last time - thanks very much. It's great to know what you think. Bear in mind that this chapter is pretty short and kinda just setting up what is to come.

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'Oh. My. _God_, Coop. You'll never guess,' - Summer was breathless from running up the stairs to the apartment and she paused a second to offload her bags and kick off her shoes – 'who turned up at Emmerson's today. Apparently,' she shouted scornfully, 'he works there now.'

'Who?' an amused voice called from the lounge. Summer frowned. That sure as hell wasn't Marissa. She rather hesitantly made a few steps forward to the archway of the living area. To her horror, there sat Ryan, Marissa and – wouldn't you know it – Seth. Chopsticks in hand and poised to take another bite of mu shu pork, he looked up at her with laughing eyes.

'Hey, Summer,' he said casually.

Summer stared at him for a long moment. 'Are you following me? She asked, sounding absolutely genuine. 'Because, seriously, I'm pretty sure stalking is illegal in all fifty states.'

Seth just shrugged affably and returned to his chinese. Summer stared at him in confusion for a few seconds longer before abruptly swivelling her head in a 45-degree turn.

She smiled sweetly at Ryan. 'Would you excuse us for a second please? Marissa and I need to have a conversation.' She glanced toward her friend. 'Coop.' She said shortly. 'Bedroom. Now.'

* * *

'Ok. Marissa. Why is Seth Cohen in my living room?' Summer asked quietly, very aware that the walls were thin.

'Because, I called and invited them both. Come on, Sum, please don't be mad - he's Ryan's brother. And anyway, I don't know why you hate him so much. I know your date didn't go so well but that was three months ago now. He's really a great guy, if you would just give him a chance.'

'What? I don't … _hate_ him.' Summer answered weakly. ' I would just _prefer_ not to be around him.'

Marissa suddenly grinned mischievously. 'Why? You afraid you're gonna jump him or something?'

'What? Coop!' Summer hissed. 'Shut up! I do not like Seth Cohen! In any sense of the word. Besides,' she said, 'he has a girlfriend now, and you know I don't take leftovers.'

'Oh, Krista? I wouldn't worry about her, Sum, she's …'

'Yeah, blonde, I heard. And all that that implies,' Summer cut in. 'But, anyway, that's totally irrelevant because I'm not worried about Krista! I'm not worried about Seth Cohen! I'm just not worried!'

Marissa took a step back and regarded her friend calmly. 'You're not?' she asked in disbelief.

'Nope.'

Marissa smiled brightly. 'Ok. Well, great. So, why don't you get changed, and I'll save you some food, huh?'

Summer smiled wanly. 'Perfect.'

* * *

Just for the record, i have nothing aginst blonde people. My sister is a blonde, and she is one of my favourite people, not to mention very intelligent. Anyway, hope you liked! 

I am going on vacation on Thursday to Vancouver - anybody been there? So this will probably be my last update for Girls and Boys until i get back at the end of the month. I am hoping to get one more update of The Road To Nowhere in before i go as well, so look out for that. Thanks for reading :)


	5. Chapter 4

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Well, i'm back from vacation! I had a great time and now that i'm over the jet-lag, i'm happy to get back to writing. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Summer could hear laughter coming from the living room and she exhaled grumpily. Could Seth Cohen not even give her one night to bitch about him? She hurriedly tied her hair back in a messy ponytail and wriggled into an oversized hockey jersey. It dwarfed her, with the arms reaching her elbows and it's hem falling to her knee, but it was comfortable and even in a wardrobe bursting with designer pieces, this was her favourite item.

She pulled a face wipe from its packet and went about removing her make-up vigorously. Marissa could be very naïve, Summer thought. However, her best friend was not generally a bad judge of character. Summer rolled her eyes as she entertained the possibility that perhaps she had been a little too hard on Seth. She sighed. The night was going to be a complete disaster for all concerned if she didn't at least make an effort.

She applied a quick coat of Vaseline to her lips and vowed to give Seth a chance. More than likely he was just as smug and irritating as she thought he was. At least, she consoled herself, after tonight she could go on hating him without any inconvenient attacks of conscience.

* * *

'Nice shirt,' were the first words out of Seth's mouth when Summer breezed into the lounge moments later. During all of their previous encounters, she had been glossy and capable and sexy. In her current outfit – did it even qualify as an outfit? – she was messy and relaxed and sexy. So, no huge change there, then. Seth wondered if there was ever a time she walked into a room and didn't immediately own it.

'Do you even know who the Boston Tigers _are_?' he asked, gesturing to the emblem printed across her chest.

'_No,_' Summer replied, as though it was ridiculous to even suggest that she might. 'Do _you_?'

'_No_,' Seth said, imitating her tone.

Summer rolled her eyes and settled herself on a polka dot beanbag, sitting Indian-style. 'Glad we got that settled, then,' she commented dryly.

Ryan and Marissa, cuddled up on the sofa, glanced at each other nervously. They had seen this situation explode before and it wasn't pretty. Summer caught their exchange and smiled. 'You don't have to worry guys, I'm on my best behaviour tonight.'

She leaned forward and grabbed a handful of Doritos, popping one into her mouth casually. 'Actually,' she began, between crunches, 'I was thinking …'

'Better have a little lie down then …' Seth made a face at his own clichéd joke.

'Oh my God!' Summer exclaimed in mock excitement. 'That was so funny!' Her tone changed suddenly. 'I almost laughed, I really did,' she said pointedly. 'Any more jokes from the comedian over here, or can I continue?'

Seth sat back in his chair, completely unfazed, and ventured no further comment.

Summer took another Dorito from the bundle in her cupped hand. 'As I was saying … I think,' pause, crunch, another chip, 'that maybe Seth and I got of on the wrong foot, proverbially speaking. And, clearly we're going to be seeing quite a bit of each other.' Summer munched on another Dorito deliberately. 'So maybe,' she concluded, 'we just need to get to know each other a little better.'

'Summer!' Marissa looked thrilled. 'That's so great!'

Summer smiled, pleased to have made Marissa happy. The truth was she would do pretty much anything for her best friend. Plus, Summer had to admit that she and Ryan made a kinda sweet couple – the last thing she wanted to do was jeopardise that.

'So,' she turned to Seth. 'Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself? Summer made sure to keep her tone light and pleasant. 'I already know where you work,' she couldn't resist adding.

Seth looked rather bemused. 'What, you want, like, vital stats or something?'

'No!' Summer rolled her eyes playfully. 'The thing is, Seth,' she said sweetly, 'I'm really only a bitch when I don't like people. So far? You fall into that category,' Summer nodded her head sadly. 'And I don't doubt that the feeling's mutual. 'Now,' she continued practically, 'bearing in mind that we go to the same school, we work at the same firm, we live within a five-block radius of each other, and our best friends are the new Lloyd and Diane , it would seem as if the universe wanted us to meet. Apparently, we are each other's penance. Right now, I'm throwing you a bone. If I were you Seth Cohen, I would take it.'

'So would I,' Ryan put in hoarsely, looking half-amused, half-terrified.

Seth made a mental picture of his brother's face to enjoy later. If Summer's little piece of advice had any effect on him whatsoever, he didn't show it, but simply began calmly, confidently. 'Ok, welcome to Seth Ezekial Cohen for beginners.'

'Don't laugh at the name - I didn't pick it. I'm half Jewish, half Christian. I tend to lean more towards the Jewish most of the year, I guess. Although around December I draw a lot of influence from the Christian side of things. You see, I started my own holiday, Chrismukkah, and frankly, Jesus? Edging just ahead of Moses on the songs, movies front, you know what I'm saying?'

Summer and Marissa just nodded mutely. Ryan had heard it all before and could imagine that this was only the beginning.

'But I guess it's kind of the wrong time of year for this stuff anyhow, right? Uhhhm, let's see. I grew up in Orange County, which was pretty fun –'

'Were you popular in high school?' Summer interrupted.

Seth half-smiled. 'Why do you ask?'

'You have the kind of confidence that only comes from being genuinely popular in high school,' she answered smoothly, as though it were a widely known fact.

Seth only shrugged.

'Come on, man, you practically left town on a float,' Ryan supplemented laughingly.

'Ok,' Seth smiled widely, 'So I guess you could say I was pretty popular.'

'Me too.' Summer replied shortly, though there was no malice in her voice. Seth looked at her for a moment, which drifted into two and possibly even three, and she looked right back. He could imagine she must have been very popular in high school. Intelligent and gorgeous was not a particularly common combination. At least not at the Harbour school.

'Uh, Seth?' Marissa asked, looking a little puzzled. 'You were saying …?'

'Right!' Seth snapped out of it and tried to get back on track. 'So, uhh, I came to UCLA, cause, y'know, didn't wanna be too far from home and all that. I, uh, I want to be a lawyer. I'm pretty good at arguing so I figure I might as well get paid for it, and I have an opinion on pretty much everything. I think beer is overrated, Shakespeare was an idiot and the Sixties weren't as much fun as everyone says.'

Seth paused for breath as the words tripped off his tongue faster than they were forming.

'I absolutely will not eat brownies unless I'm in a situation where if I don't take one, it makes me look rude. I like comic books, and girls, and indie/ emo music that's a little on the wrong side of whiny. I think that sweatpants are a hallmark of civilization, orgasms are a marketing ploy, and I hate it when people say something is 'for the best' because it is nearly always bullshit.'

Marissa and Ryan sat in stunned silence. How was it even possible to come up with stuff that random!

'Personal interests?' Summer enquired, trying her best to remain dignified. She could definitely see why any girl would be blown away by this guy now. Not her though. They were just too different. Or too the same. Or something. Besides, Summer didn't, as a general rule, believe in relationships.

'Is the some kind of test? Like, if I say sex you'll kill me and if I say shopping you'll let me live?' Seth asked drolly.

Summer bit back a laugh, which was more than Ryan and Marissa were managing. 'Hobbies, pastimes, that kind of thing,' she prompted.

'Oh! Well, that's pretty easy then. In my spare time I enjoy sailing, listening to music, playing videogames, occasionally cooking as long as it takes no more than 20 minutes, reading comic books and shopping for vintage clothing,' Seth rhymed off, sounding like he was reading from a textbook.

Summer smiled teasingly. 'You like cooking? And shopping? And, that hair of yours looks like it takes some work.' She lowered her voice to a whisper. 'Are you sure you're not … gay?'

'I'm not gay,' Seth replied, rolling his eyes.

Summer held up her palms. 'Hey, I'm not here to judge. It's nothing to be ashamed of Cohen, I mean, you are what you are, right?'

Seth sighed. 'I'm not gay,' he repeated. 'I,' he said with a flourish, 'am a metrosexual.'

Marissa almost choked on the last of her Chinese. 'I'm sorry; you're a _what_ now?'

'A metrosexual,' he clarified. 'A young, urban, heterosexual male who appreciates such things as shopping, fine cuisine and personal grooming. In other words, Miss Summer, _I_, am _just gay enough_!'

'I don't know,' Summer answered, in a sing-song voice. 'There's a fine line between 'just gay enough' and 'far, _far _too gay'.'

Seth made a face at her. 'Well, I trust you'll moniter my progress and let me know when I'm stepping over to the dark side,' he said sarcastically.

'Pleasure,' Summer smiled sweetly.

Marissa and Ryan couldn't help but laugh. These two were both as quick and smart and stubborn as each other. 'I think Krista'd have something to say if you'd been hiding in the closet all this time Seth,' Marissa commented, with a very unladylike snort.

Summer gasped derisively. 'That's right! Krista! Your girlfriend! How _is_ she?'

'Seth doesn't have girlfriends,' Ryan put in.

Summer looked triumphant. 'Is that so?'

'He has dates,' Ryan finished with a smile.

'Oh.' Summer was stumped but recovered fast. 'But you see, _Krista_, has made an honest man of him. He is truly, madly, _deeply _in love with her. Isn't that right, Cohen?'

'Yep,' Seth agreed cheerfully, with a disarming smile.

'Krista?' Ryan eyed his brother sceptically. 'The same Krista that we met?' he asked, gesturing to himself and Marissa.

Seth just _looked_ at him.

'What?' Ryan shrugged in defence. 'It's a big city. Full of girls. And you've dated most of 'em – eventually you're gonna have to double up on the names, man,' he teased.

'Shut up,' Seth replied good-naturedly. 'It's the same Krista.'

'Y'know,' Summer began. 'Why am I the only one that hasn't met Krista. She sounds _great_.' She said seriously.

'Well, are you bringing her to the Ice Wharf on Friday?' Marissa asked, referring to the on-campus student bar.

'Uhh, I wasn't planning on it, but I guess I could.' He turned to Summer, 'I doubt you guys will have much in common …'

'Well, we both know and love you – there's a start,' Summer said brightly. 'Don't you worry your pretty little head about it Cohen,' she teased loftily. 'We'll find something to talk about.'

* * *

I guess that was just developing the relationship a little more and setting up what's to come. Let me know what you think if you get a chance. Thanks!  



	6. Chapter 5

Hey everybody - i hope you all had a lovely summer, and it's not too depressing being back at school/work! I've been kind of disappointed with the lack of new/continued SS fanfics lately, and i can only imagine that everyone else is, like me, incredibly busy.

* * *

Marissa Cooper weaved her way through the crowded bar, holding two cocktails high above her head. The Ice Wharf was fun and laid-back, with a contemporary design, funky music and a very hot bartender.

Of course, one of the best and worst things about a student bar is that you will always meet someone you know, and Marissa was stopped several times by various classmates before she finally reached the round table Summer and she had chosen.

'Sum,' Marissa prompted, tapping her friend on the shoulder and lowering her drink.

'Mmm, perfect, thank you.' Summer took a careful sip, conscious of her newly applied lipgloss. 'What's in this anyway?'

Marissa shrugged. 'Fruit, I think. Very nutritious. And maybe the teeniest, tiniest drop of vodka.,' she grinned, as Summer raised an eyebrow playfully. 'Have you _seen_ the bartender here?'

Summer put down her drink abruptly. 'Oh my God, yes! He is so cute, isn't he?'

Marissa giggled. Welcome to junior high. Oh well, it was fun to be gushy sometimes, no matter what age you were. 'Totally. It's too bad I'm taken.'

'Yeah, but you can still window-shop,' Summer replied, with a teasing smile. 'Where is Ryan anyways?'

Marissa glanced at her watch. 'Should be here pretty soon. I think he and Seth were meeting were meeting Krista at the door so …' Marissa trailed off, studying her friend closely.

'Right,' Summer remembered, taking a sip of her cocktail. She rolled her eyes as a hint of a smile played on her lips. 'This should be fun.'

A sudden flash of concern flickered over Marissa, but it disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. In the last 15 years, she had come to love Summer's lively, honest approach to life and a night out with her was never boring.

'Y'know, I think I might give Ryan a call, just to see where he's at,' Marissa began, flipping her cell phone open, and glancing towards the door. 'Oh, hey,' her eyes lit up. 'No need - they're here,' she said happily.

Summer turned round to where her friend was gesturing behind her. Sure enough, Ryan and Seth were headed towards them, with some girl, presumably the infamous Krista, in tow.

'Hey, sweetie,' Marissa stood up to kiss Ryan, a move which was rapidly turning into uncomfortable PDA territory.

Summer resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She loved Marissa, but, seriously, they way she was behaving, you'd think Ryan had just come back from World War Two or something. Instead, her eyes rested on Seth. She had to admit he wasn't looking too bad tonight. Faded, beat-up Chuck Taylor's, low slung jeans on narrow hips and a rather snug evergreen t-shirt bearing the slogan, _'Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily,_ _Life Is But A Dream_,' which was followed by, unsurprisingly, a print of a sailboat. He seemed to simply exude confidence and charm. Damn, Summer hated that. She nodded at him. 'Seth.'

He nodded back with a smile, and cocked an eyebrow – a gesture she knew was designed purely to irritate. 'Summer,' he returned.

Marissa, who had finally peeled herself off her boyfriend, stepped in. She had not been Social Chair for nothing. 'Hey Seth,' she smiled. 'Cool shirt! And Krista.' Marissa turned to the blonde at Seth's side and gave a little wave. 'Good to see you again.'

They all stood around lamely in a circle, and Seth too partook in this awkward waiting, until, suddenly, it dawned on him that everyone was waiting on _him_. 'Oh … sorry! Um, Krista, this is my friend Summer Roberts. Summer, this is my girlfriend Krista James.'

'It's Jameson,' Krista said in a sickly, honeyed tone, not sounding in the least bit bothered.

'Right, Jameson, that's what I said,' Seth replied cheerily.

'Why don't you guys come sit down?' Marissa suggested, as they all moved towards the table. 'Do you want a drink? I'm afraid Summer and I kinda started the party without you, but I don't mind going to the bar again.'

'No, hey, it's ok,' Ryan said. 'You sit down; I'll go this time. Seth, beer?'

'Sure,' his brother nodded.

'How bout you Krista, you want anything?' Ryan continued.

'Sure. I'll have a Quick Screw, if that's ok.'

Ryan's face seemed to freeze in a position of total perplexity for a good five seconds. 'I'm sorry?'

'You _know,_' she said, her tone suggesting that this was something surely everyone _must_ be aware of, sort of like Jude Law's indiscretions, or third world debt. 'It's a type of Screwdriver,' she clarified. 'Like, a cocktail …?'

'Oh. Ok. Sure,' Ryan nodded. 'I'll be right back,' he said, still sounding rather dazed, and made his way towards the bar. Seth, meanwhile, was fighting a losing battle with laughter.

'So, Krista,' Summer began, in that oh-so-pleasant tone that Seth was already all too familiar with. 'Where are you from?'

'Canton, Ohio,' she replied, batting her eyelashes.

'Really? Ohio?' Summer could hardly mask her surprise. Krista's entire look seemed to emulate that of the die-hard Cali girls that Summer had spent the majority of her high school years humouring. Masses of bottle blonde hair, deeply tanned - tango-ed - skin, and tiny clothes, designed for minimum coverage, maximum exposure. It occurred to Summer that she may be staring, and she attempted to get back on track. 'That seems like a pretty long way to come for college.'

Krista twirled a platinum-coloured curl around her finger. '_Yeah_,' she agreed, nodding slowly and seriously.

Summer frowned slightly, more from confusion than anything else. This girl was on another planet. She flipped her hair away from her face and tried again. 'And what are you studying?'

This time it was Krista's turn to frown. 'It's kind of a long story,' she began, smiling girlishly and rolling her eyes. 'See, I started off wanting to do psychology, right?'

Summer and Marissa nodded in disbelief.

'But,' Krista continued, 'turns out that's, like, _really_ hard. I had so many classes. Like, I had to get up at 9am every Tuesday just for this one-hour lecture. And I kept getting these papers to write –'

'Don't you just hate that?' Summer cut in, smiling slyly. She snuck a glance in Seth's direction, and thought she saw the corners of his lips traitorously upturned as well. But maybe she imagined it.

Krista, blissfully unaware of the subtext of Summer's smile, replied emphatically, '_To_tally! So, anyway, next year I'm switching to fashion. Which is actually kind of perfect, cause that means all I have to do this year is have fun!' She flashed a saccharine smile. 'So…. Are you guys gonna get smashed tonight?'

Seth surveyed the round table. A bewildered but somewhat amused Marissa, Summer, on tip-top form, just bursting to hit Krista with razor-sharp one-liners, and Krista herself, inspecting a French-manicured nail serenely. He exhaled loudly. Where the hell was Ryan anyways? Bring on the alcohol.

* * *

Well, i hope you liked! Drop a comment if you have time! Anyways, i don't know when i'll get a chance to do more, i've got quite a lot to do this week - but i do really enjoy writing my fanfics, so i'll do my best! Thanks for reading xxxx 


	7. Chapter 6

Thank you for your comments last time - it's nice to hear that people are enjoying reading as much as i am enjoying writing :)

* * *

Not even an hour later, Seth was on his fourth shot of something Summer guessed was one fancy name away from being lighter fluid and Krista wasn't too far behind him. She seemed, to Summer at least, to become more stupid with each passing sip.

Eventually, slurring something about the bathroom, she toddled off and, as is customary, everyone waited until she was a safe distance away before they started talking about her.

'Seth. Really,' Marissa reasoned. _'Why?'_

'Why what?' he asked, leaning in towards the table, struggling to hear her above the noise of the bar.

'Why does she look like a tangerine?' Summer supplemented. She really was helpful that way, and she was on a roll. 'And, why is her skirt halfway up her ass? And why does it take her, like, an eternity to speak one syllable? And –'

'Yeah, I was actually just gonna go for 'why are you dating her?'' Marissa interrupted, before things got too heated.

Seth, at a loss for words, looked to Ryan, in a plea for support.

'Hey, I'm with 'Riss,' Ryan admitted, holding up his palms in defence. 'You actually could do so much better, man.'

Seth shrugged weakly, having been cruelly deserted by his last ally. 'I think she's … nice.' He concluded lamely.

Ryan and Marissa looked to each other in a sort of 'what planet is this guy on?' way, and Summer just snorted in disbelief. 'Please. She's from _Ohio_. And she came all the way to California for college – I mean, who does that when New York is, like, right there! And to do fashion. For a degree …' Summer trailed off with a disappointed sigh, as though she felt Krista to be a pretty poor reflection on the entire female race.

'Maybe she likes the warmer climate,' Seth suggested, but was only met by blank faces. He sighed. 'I don't know, she probably saw 90210 like the rest of us and thought it looked like fun.'

Marissa giggled – she was getting a little tipsy herself at this point. 'Maybe I'll ask her when she gets back.'

'Uh-uh,' Summer warned comically, taking a modest sip from her glass. 'I tried that already, remember? And she wasn't exactly verbose.'

'Hey!' Seth spoke up. 'Krista's actually … she's … she's really smart,' he finished, with pathetic lack of conviction.

But Summer wasn't buying it and her expression said so. 'Really?' she raised her eyebrows. 'Then why does she look like a game-show hostess?' she asked pointedly.

Now, Seth, who had a feeling her question was rhetorical, but, due to his current alcohol-induced state, was all for answering anyway, was saved the trouble of doing so when a small group of people weaved their way through the crowds towards the table. At the forefront was a bubbly redheaded girl whom Seth recognised vaguely from some one of his classes. The guy with his arm wrapped around her, presumably her boyfriend, looked a bit familiar too.

'Liza!' Marissa exclaimed, as she and Summer rose to greet her with hugs. 'I didn't know you were coming tonight!'

'Well, I wasn't. I was _supposed_ to be doing my lit paper …' She smiled ruefully. 'But then, whoever said college was about learning stuff, huh!'

'I actually just arrived,' she continued. 'But it seems like Jason here has been having fun enough for the both of us.' Liza gestured to her boyfriend, who was now practically falling asleep on her shoulder.

'What!' Summer laughed. 'It's only, like, 9.45, he must have started at like noon!'

'Yeah,' Marissa agreed, 'he's so gonna be feeling that tomorrow. Oh, hey,' she turned back towards the table. 'You guys know Ryan and Seth, right?'

'Ah, the famous Cohen brothers,' Liza joked. 'Ryan, I like to think I have my finger on the pulse, and you're one half of UCLA's hottest new couple, right?' she joked, eliciting a blush from Marissa. 'And Seth, I think we have American History together.'

'Right!' It was all coming back to Seth now. 'Third row, centre.'

'Wow, you do pay attention!'

'When he actually shows up,' Summer tossed in, while waving to some of the other girls in the group, all in various stages of dancing, drinking, chatting or making out.

'Hey!' Seth protested, with as much vigour as he could muster. 'I go to class!'

'Sure you do,' she replied loftily. 'When you're not following _me_ around, that is.'

'Summer Roberts!' he exclaimed, with equal casual disdain. 'You cannot possibly-'

'Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,' Liza held up her hand. 'Ok, now this is gonna end one of two ways - in a massive PDA fest, or a pretty hideous bitch fight, and I don't know whether I want to be a witness to either.'

She looked curiously between Seth and Summer, with a laugh. 'Are you two dating, or something?' she asked, ignoring the sweeping 'don't go there' signals Ryan was making with his arms.

Seth nearly choked on his own words, so hurried was his response. 'Dating? You mean like is she my gir … no, no, no. _No_.'

'There can never be enough 'no's',' Summer murmured in sardonic agreement.

Liza looked somewhat confused, but elected to let that one go and get the scoop from Marissa later. 'Ok.' She nodded. 'So, anyways … there's this thing on next month in Mandela Gardens …'

'Right!' Marissa said, re-entering the conversation. 'The music festival?'

'Yeah, and it looks awesome!' she replied emphatically. 'I don't know if you guys have seen the line-up …'

Seth had, actually. And it was, as she'd put it, in a word, awesome. Tickets were like gold dust though, he was pretty sure they'd sold out in about twenty minutes. When he told her this, her smile became even wider.

'And that's where I come in!' she said happily. 'My dad's a promoter for the event, and so I got like 10 free tickets. A group of us are going if you're interested.'

'Um, yeah! This is so cool!' Summer said, giving the girl a quick hug.

'Yeah, definitely, count us in too,' Ryan said, speaking for himself and Marissa.

'Sure. And how 'bout you, Seth? Think you and Summer can play nice for a day?'

Seth smiled. 'To the sweet sounds of Death Cab? I think I can manage it,' he laughed, ignoring Summer's glare.

'Ok! Cool! Well, you know what?' Liza glanced towards her boyfriend. 'I think it's only a matter of time before he starts slobbering on me and this is a nice top.'

'Yeah, seems like it's bedtime for Jason,' Marissa laughed. 'Me and Summer and you and Ruthie should get together in the week – have lunch or something.'

'Totally. I can give you the dates and stuff for the festival then, k?

'Sure, thank you!' the girls called, as Liza disappeared into the sea of people, her posse behind her.

Ryan smiled. 'She's certainly a whirlwind!'

'She is,' Marissa agreed. 'But she's sweet. And friendly – she's actually one of the first people Summer and I met at college. She literally just came up and sat down with us for lunch one day because she just _had_ to find out where Summer got her skirt.'

Ryan chuckled. 'I can believe that, actually. Hey, Seth, where the hell is Krista?'

Seth paused. 'Bathroom?' he suggested.

'All this time? What would she be doin' in there?'

'I dunno, man, but I'm not up for going to find out.'

'She's probably re-applying her eye-liner. I swear to god, that make-up was applied with a trowel,' Summer mumbled.

'Oooh Summer,' Seth smiled flirtatiously. 'That was low,' he said mockingly.

'Well, that's me,' she replied brightly, 'harsh but fair.'

* * *

Obviously, this is not finished! I will have more of the action at the Ice Wharf hopefully at the weekend, but that was over 1000 words, so i figured i may as well post it now - please leave a comment if you get time! 


	8. Chapter 7

Hey - i know it's been a while! People may need to re-read in order to remember what this story was about! I'm sorry i haven't updated in so long - i've been busy/lazy/uninspired. To be honest, i don't think i'm much good at writing these days, but a lot of people were looking for an update for Girls and Boys and i felt kinda guilty about just abbandoning the story. Anyway, i tried. I figure something is better than nothing. Hope it's ok.

* * *

As the night progressed, one thing became apparent: Seth Cohen could not hold his alcohol. However, it had to be said, he was quite an affable drunk. His current situation, for example, could have been deemed less than ideal: his brother and Marissa were in the sloppy stages of tipsy foreplay on the other side of the table, Summer had been at the bar for quite some time and his girlfriend had yet to reappear. Despite these problems though, Seth was very happily intrigued by his beer mat. 

Moments later he became aware of some peripheral presence and turned to notice that Ryan had peeled himself off his girlfriend and had moved to sit beside him.

"Riss is just going to the bathroom and then I thinkwe're gonna take off," Ryan said, and Seth nodded in response.

"You wanna come with us or are you gonna stay here?"

"Oh, I'm good, man," Seth nodded. "I'm just gonna wait on Summer. Or Krista, actually. You know, whoever turns up first.

Ryan smiled. "Right. Well … good luck with that."

"Hey Ryan?" Seth asked lazily, with a hint of a smile. "Do you think I repel women?"

This time Ryan could barely conceal a snort as he appeared to weigh up the options. "I don't know, man. I mean, Krista seemed pretty into you. But then, obviously, Summer's not your biggest fan. So, you know, you got like a 50 likeability rating. That's more than most people, dude."

Seth just nodded slowly, his head starting to feel very heavy. "So…" he said eventually. "You and Marissa, huh? Where's the magic happening tonight?

"Uh, her place, I think."

"K. Well, that'll probably be a lot less gross than ours. I'll tell Summer to be prepared – if she ever shows up."

Ryan cleared his throat, glancing behind Seth suggestively. "Well," he began, "I dunno about Summer, but it looks like Krista's back from the dead."

Seth turned to look behind him quickly, and then retuned to face Ryan, with a wry grin. "And look," he stated sardonically, "She brought a friend."

Ryan chuckled. Seeing Seth get dumped was not an even which occurred, well …ever, actually, so this was comedy fodder for at least the next five years.

Seth smiled sociably as his supposed girlfriend approached, hanging off a six-foot blonde guy with suspiciously bronzed skin. Even excepting his current state – which, frankly, meant he just cared less about things in general – he had to appreciate the humour of the situation. They matched. They were Barbie and Ken, but with bigger feet.

"Krista," he said pleasantly. "You took your time."

The blonde smiled awkwardly. "Yeah; here's the thing though Seth … I, like, have some kinda bad news."

Seth could barely keep a straight face, and a quick glance to his left showed that Ryan was not doing much better. "What could that be sweetheart?"

She took a deep breath. "I met somebody else."

Seth threw his hands up in the air comically. "Well, what do you know!" He turned to Ken Doll. "I'm guessing you're the guy then?"

Ken Doll just nodded, apparently not much of a conversationalist.

"We just met in between the girls and guys restrooms and we just …" Krista took a lingering look at Ken Doll and finished breathily, "_connected_." Such a declaration was, apparently, too much to resist as the man in question immediately stooped down and began to kiss her – if you could call it that.

Seth and Ryan were, at this point, laughing hysterically – in fact, Seth didn't know if he had ever seen Ryan this happy. The show Krista and Ken Doll were putting on about three inches from his face was really very educational. He had never really understood the expression "sucking face," but suddenly things were becoming a lot more clear.

Eventually Krista made the colossal effort to pull away and turned breathlessly to Seth. "Well … sorry and all – but we're in love."

"Oh, you guys are?" Seth could hardly have looked more cheerful. However, abruptly, he seemed to sober up and assumed an expression of mock hurt. "Well, you know what Krista? I really thought we had something." His voice cracked as he appeared to become more emotional, though – Ryan noted – his eyes betrayed a wicked smile. "I give you my heart and you just – you just _stomp_ on it!

"Aw!" Krista looked perplexed as Ryan, in his slightly tipsy state, actually began to giggle. She patted Seth's upper arm sympathetically. "I'm sorry Sethy!"

"Yeah, well …" Seth trailed off dejectedly.

Krista frowned, apparently unsure how to react. "Um … well, I gotta go. Try not to be, like, too, like, heartbroken." Her forehead crinkled again in confusion. "You know, I really never thought you liked me that much!"

And with that, Krista quickly disappeared into the crowd, dragging Ken Doll – who seemed to be muttering a stoic "sorry dude" – behind her. It took no longer than 5 seconds for Krista James, or Jamison, or whatever the hell it was, to blend imperceptibly into the sea of blondes and Seth smiled wryly. The truth was, he never really had been able to pick her out of a crowd.

He and Ryan simply looked at each other in silence for a minute, absorbing the full ridiculousness of it all. Finally Ryan sighed happily "How does it feel then, man? Y'know, being the 'dumpee' for once?"

Seth grinned. "I think I'll probably live." He took another swig of his beer and rolled his eyes. "Ohhh, Summer's gonna _love_ this one."

* * *

Forty minutes later and Seth sat alone at round table. Having been shamelessly abandoned by Ryan and Marissa, he had been hanging out with some other guys from his dorm until they too headed out to another bar. At this point, he couldn't be sure, but he had a fair idea that they had bought him more alcohol.

His buzz was wearing off a little now though, and he would have been perfectly happy to call it a night if it wasn't for the fact that he'd promised Marissa that he'd stay to make sure Summer got home alright. Personally, Seth was pretty sure that this act of chivalry would go unappreciated by the girl herself, considering both their less-than-chummy history and the fact that she was mostly likely hooking up right now. Furthermore, he pitied the guy that would try to mug Summer in a dark alley.

But still, he waited. And waited. And waited. He finished off his beer, and waited some more until finally, he spotted her a few feet away with – as expected – a guy, who, incidentally, looked very like the bartender.

Summer, he could see, was apparently explaining something, gesticulating with one hand while using the other to absently twirl the end of a strand of hair. On some level, Seth acknowledged that she looked good – really good – and the demure-yet-sexy effect of her brown peasant skirt, caramel tank top, softly curled hair and strings upon strings of various beads was certainly not lost on the guy, who was just sort of staring at her googly-eyed. Oddly enough, Seth could kind of identify with him.

"Aw, buddy, don't falll for those eyes," he murmured unconsciously. "Those eyes are only gonna get you in trouble."

To his surprise, however, almost immediately, Summer appeared to be doing a sort of "well, it was good to meet you" exit line, accompanied by a smile and a nod – Seth smiled too, he'd been in her position many times himself. Indeed, the guy was left visibly disappointed as Summer turned and moved towards the table, holding her hands out questioningly as she approached Seth.

"Where is everybody?" she asked, eyeing the empty table.

Seth looked vaguely irritated. "Where is everybody?" He could hear the hint of a slur in his own voice and tried his best to rectify it. "Where is everybody – Summer, you've been gone for like three hours!

Summer sat down two chairs away from him and began to suck on an olive from one of the many empty cocktail glasses littered around the table. "Hardly. So where'd Coop and Ryan take themselves off to then? Some friends they are."

"They went back to your place to have sex," Seth answered nonchalantly.

Summer raised an eyebrow at his blunt expression but appeared to elect to just let it go. "And you're still here because…?"

Seth smiled slightly. "Because, Miss Summer, you're a poor defenceless female and apparently Marissa's not a totally shitty friend – she made me promise to stay and do the whole knight in shining armour bit."

Summer snorted derisively. "Right." She looked pointedly at Seth's row of empty beer bottles. "I bet you can't even walk straight, how many of those have you had?"

"I don't know." Seth made a face. "Enough to make it seem like years in purgatory while I waited for you to finish getting fresh with the bartender."

Summer rolled her eyes. "For your information, he's the manager and, -not that it's any of your business – but I was _not_ 'getting fresh' with him, as you so nicely put it."

Seth arched a brow knowingly. "Well, he wanted to. I could tell."

He smiled charmingly and Summer simply exhaled loudly in a huff. "Look, let's just get out of here Cohen. I think we've definitely had enough of each other for one night."

Seth nodded obligingly as she moved to put on her jacket. Suddenly, though, something seemed to occur to her as she stopped and met his eyes.

"Seth. Where's Krista?"

He groaned inwardly, but figured there was no point in lying. "Well, it's funny you should say that Summer because Krista and me … we had something of a parting of the ways."

Summer slammed her hand down on the table as the curve of a smile formed on her lips. "She broke up with you?" she asked, although it wasn't really a question. "Burn! God, Cohen, that's gotta be hard to take huh? I mean, dumped by a high-class girl like that? And you were so devoted to her too!"

Seth grimaced uncomfortably. "Uh I, I wouldn't say that, exactly. To be honest, I don't think she was really what I was looking for."

Summer smiled, conceding, "Well, I guess she _was_ a lot smarter _and_ a lot better looking than you so, y'know, we wouldn't want you getting an inferiority complex."

He had to laugh at that one. "Everyone's a comedian tonight, huh? Ok, come on Miss, we gotta go. If we keep going with this conversation I think I'm definitely gonna need more alcohol and that's just not gonna end well."

For once, Summer seemed to agree with him as she quickly applied a coat of strawberry LipSmackers and put her jacket on. They were both standing and ready to leave when, out of nowhere, a tall girl with straight black hair appeared and pushed Seth lightly back down on his seat. He looked at her, dumbfounded.

"You're not leaving are you?" she asked. '"Cause I've been trying to build up the courage to come over here an talk to you for the last half an hour."

Seth just nodded, entirely not in the mood for this. "Well, that's nice and all but I was actually-"

"I'm Amanda White" the girl interrupted. "What's your name?'

"Seth," he muttered tiredly.

"Seth what?" she continued flirtatiously, nothing if not tenacious.

"Cohen!" Summer cut in impatiently, tapping her foot and looking wholly unamused.

Apparently having noticed Summer's presence for the first time, Amanda looked somewhat disgruntled. "Oh – I'm sorry, your not …?"

"His girlfriend?" Summer asked, now highly irritated. "No, I most definitely am not, although I would love to know what the hell I'm doing that keeps making people think that!"

Amanda seemed to mentally consign Summer to the category of people who would do well in an asylum and, nodding condescendingly, sat down next to Seth. Summer, sensing that this might take a while, sat down on the other side of him and began drumming her fingernails on the table. Seth, meanwhile, just really, really wanted it to all go away.

"So!" Amanda began brightly. "You go to UCLA right?"

Seth nodded. "Yeah. And look, it was nice to meet you but I really gotta-"

"What do you want to be?" she persisted.

Seth sighed and shrugged lightly. "I'm thinking about becoming a burden on society," he said seriously, amused that although Summer couldn't hold back a laugh, Amanda was just looking slightly confused. "Yeah," he continued, getting into it now. "The pay's not great but there's a lot of flexibility and I think it's a growth industry."

"Uh… I guess so."

Seth held out his hand with a smile and nodded. "So Amanda." She shook his hand. "Good to meet you. We really have to go, Summer here needs to take her medication," he said. "But I'm sure I'll be seeing you."

Seth got up quickly – possibly too quickly, though he ignored the overwhelming feeling of light-headedness – and grabbed Summer's wrist. "Come on sweetie, we gotta go."

"Do not call me sweetie," she muttered as he rolled his eyes. "Walk that way," she said, noticing his disorientated appearance, and putting her hands on his waist, she guided him towards the door.

Summer waited until he was a little bit away from her before she turned back to Amanda. "Hey!" she called, and the black haired girl turned around. Summer smiled, even though she didn't know why. "He wants to be a lawyer," she said, and followed him towards the door.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Leave me a review if you have a minute cause i would really like to know if anyone still reads this o 


	9. Chapter 8

The night air was cold in comparison The Ice Wharf's sweaty humidity and Summer glanced at her watch: 1am. As they walked, the beats of Usher became muffled and were replaced by the echoes of fellow students, laughing and talking on the way home.

Summer was coming up a few steps behind Seth and noticed him looking a little disorientated. She placed one hand on his shoulder and the other on his waist as she drew level with him. "Ok Cohen. We only have to walk a couple of blocks so just stay upright for me, kay?"

Seth smiled. "I'm fine," he protested, as she dropped her hands back down to her sides and they walked together in silence for a while.

"So… nicely handled with Amanda whatsherface back there," Summer commented eventually.

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, you know, making yourself seem like a complete bum does seem to pretty effective in warding off undesirables."

"Well, maybe I'll give that one a try sometime," she replied with a giggle.

"I don't know Summer. You look too good to be a drop-out really, but see, I, have totally got the whole dirty Converse wrinkled t-shirt thing down."

"Oh, oh, so _this_," she looked him up and down, "this is a look you're perfecting, right?"

He nodded with a smile.

"And here I was thinking you were just too lazy to do laundry," Summer answered irreverently. "Well, anyway, I'm pretty sure there was compliment for me in there somewhere, so thanks."

"No problem … hey, look, so I'm saying nice things about you don't look like a tramp and you're being moderately polite back – I feel like we're making progress here Sum. Do you think," he gasped dramatically, " dare I say it? Is this the beginning of a beautiful friendship?"

She raised an eyebrow derisively but her tone was light. "Let's not get carried away here Cohen."

Seth rolled his eyes. "God Summer, why can't you just let yourself like me?" he asked, though he didn't sound angry – just curious.

"What?" she asked, seeming genuinely mystified.

"It would just cause so much less hassle, since we do seem to be thrust into each other's company during every waking minute," he explained. "Plus, you know, I've never actually been just friends with a girl, so that could be fun and you and I –" he paused uncertainly. "You and I are so similar, Summer."

Summer shook her head. "You're drunk," she said, effectively absolving herself from even considering the truth in his statement.

He smiled. "Shut up, so are you."

"I am not," she replied indignantly. "I had a few drinks – I could tell you my home number, cell number, work number and social security number right here."

Seth held up his hand before she could start rhyming them off. "Don't – I believe you, I promise."

They walked another few blocks together, the only sounds between them being the methodical clicking of her heels and the padding of his sneakers on the sidewalk. His dorm building was in view when he spoke again.

"I don't get you, Summer. Y'know? I just don't get you."

She smiled ruefully as they entered his building and began to climb the steps to his room. "I'm really not that complicated, Cohen."

"Yeah you are, you're like a walking contradiction," he asserted. "I mean, in class you're like super-smart and then, in work, all you do is read People magazine all day. The first time I meet you're wearing this amazing black dress and the second time, you're running around in a goddamn hockey jersey and now …" he paused with a tired sigh. "I just don't have a fucking clue where I am with you Summer, I mean, sometimes I'm pretty sure you hate my guts-"

"How observant," Summer tossed in.

"And you know what, I'd actually be totally fine with that," he continued, as though she hadn't spoken. "If it wasn't for the other times where it sorta seems like you just … get me. Like you might even be interested in me."

Something about his words hit home with Summer – whether she liked it or not, she felt like she did just "get him" as he'd put it. Maybe he was right – maybe they were more similar than she'd realised. And letting Seth Cohen be right…? Just not acceptable. Her face blazed. "Interested in you? _Interested_ in you! What could I have done that could possibly – _possibly _– have led you to that conclusion?"

Summer paused for breath and continued, looking him straight in the eye. "I knew, before I even met you Seth Cohen, that you were a player, but hey – here's a novel concept: just because you're smart and cute and funny, and pretty much a perfect combination of what everyone wants, that does not mean that every woman you meet is going to just fall at your feet. Because guess what? You are _still_ a colossal pain in the ass!"

Seth wasn't sure if it was the considerable amount of alcohol they'd both consumed, his new single status or just that fact that she was sexy when she was angry, but right then, standing in the hallway of his dorm, he really wanted to kiss Summer. And God help him, but the next thing he knew, his mouth was on hers and she was letting him do it.

He was solid and warm and a _good_ kisser, Summer decided. He kissed her with a passion and intensity which she found herself more than able to equal. Even now, in this moment, it was as if they were challenging each other, as if they had something to prove to themselves. His tongue was on her neck now, and she had tilted her head to give him better access, breathing raggedly. It scared her that she liked this so much, that it felt so _right_, somehow, and that right then, he had complete control over her because everthing he did felt so damn good.

She pulled away suddenly – he looked somewhat dazed and stricken, and she could feel the same expression on her own face, only amplified. What the hell had just happened? She found, however, that the ability to form sentences had completely left her and she really didn't know what to say to him. So she took a deep breath, turned around, and tried to steady her legs as she walked back down the stairs.

He watched her for a few seconds with a stunned sigh, before stumbling towards the couch and flopping down. His head was pounding.

* * *

Seth woke with a creak in his neck and the overwhelming feeling of general shitiness otherwise known as a hangover. In all honesty, the details of the previous night were somewhat hazy, but he distinctly remembered kissing Summer Roberts in the hallway outside his room.

He clutched his head in dismay. Of all people, it had to be Summer Roberts. In order to plan out what his approach to the whole thing was going to be, he had to try and pre-empt her reaction, and he really didn't have the first clue about how she would be feeling this morning. He actually couldn't fathom why she would even want to kiss him in the first place, the only logical explanation being that maybe she had had a few too many shots as well.

This, as it turned out, was a light bulb moment, He smiled. That would be perfect! If she didn't even remember that much, then all he had to do was play the whole thing down, they could both laugh in embarrassment and he would have successfully escaped her wrath. Perfect. Seth smiled and went back to sleep.

He didn't know how much later it was when he was rudely awoken by a clipped knock at the door. He stumbled the the door, wondering why Ryan couldn't just use his key, and opened it.

"Ah, you're conscious I see. That's a nice surprise," Summer said briskly. She shut the door for herself as he was already making his way to one of the chairs around the dorm's small table. She perched herself about half a meter away on the back of the sofa, and looked at him, his elbows on the table as he massaged his temples. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

Eventually, after a few moments of silence, he looked up at her. "Love me, Summer, I'm a fragile soul."

She blinked. "Well, I'm not even gonna talk to you until you put on a shirt," she answered pointedly, glancing at his naked torso. He was more defined than she'd though actually and he had nice … that was beside the point.

Seth grinned. "Afraid you won't be able to restrain yourself, huh Summer?"

"Yes, Cohen," she deadpanned, leaning over the soft to retrieve the crumpled ball that was last night's t-shirt. "That's is exactly. You're just _that_ hot," she finished sarcastically, throwing the shirt at his chest.

He manoeuvred the t-shirt over his head as she started pacing around the tiny dorm. He wondered how much she could remember. "So, uh, about last night," he began awkwardly, as she stopped right opposite his seat.

"What about it?"

"Did I do anything shameful or embarrassing?" he asked cautiously.

"Well, I guess you could say that," she replied wryly.

"Oh good. I was worried I might have passed out before things got interesting," he joked.

"Oh, it was interesting alright Seth," she said. "I really wish you could remember more of it. Let me just jog your memory, huh? Let's see," she said breezily, "first of all your broke up with Krista – or rather she broke up with you – then you drank your weight in alcohol meaning that I had to escort you to your door, where you thanked me for my troubles by attacking me with your mouth."

There was a silence as the information settled between them and Seth's brow furrowed in confusion. He'd actually forgotten about Krista.

She looked directly at him. "All coming flooding back to you, huh Cohen."

"Yeah," he said uncomfortably. "About that. You're not … mad, are you?"

"I can't say I'm thrilled."

"Oh come on," he protested, "it was a goodnight kiss!"

Summer raised an eyebrow. "With a goodnight tongue?"

Seth rolled his eyes. "Look Summer, it takes two to tango and … I can't believe I just said that … but anyway, the point being, you were not exactly saying no last night otherwise no matter how much I'd had to drink, I never would have done anything. But you kissed me back."

"I did not!" Summer gasped.

Seth was looking pretty amused by now. "Sure you did Summer, you were there, you remember."

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to find the appropriate response. "Well … That – that's irrelevant. The fact remains that you took advantage of me."

"Ha!" Seth laughed at her ludicrous statement. "I'm sorry, who was the one who was intoxicated and unable to make decisions here Summer? That would be me. And yet I clearly remember your tongue in my mouth. So let's take a minute here and ask ourselves who was taking advantage of whom last night."

If there was one thing Summer Roberts liked in a relationship, it was to feel in control. And damn Seth Cohen just had this way of making her feel so ridiculously out of her depth, it was scary. And irritating. She looked at him for a moment.

"Ok Seth. How about we just chalk last night up to … whatever, and let it go, alright? Maybe say we both made a bad decision, so they sort of … cancel each other out. Do you know what I'm saying?"

"I'm a little hazy on the specifics but basically you want me not to mention this to you or anyone else ever again, is that about it?"

"Got it in one, Cohen," Summer paused. "I have to go."

"Stop!" Seth said, as she moved toward the door. "Ryan probably won't be back for a while and I'm … I'm feeling kind of _delicate_."

"Uh huh."

"I could really use some coffee, and some chips maybe – and definitely aspirin."

She looked ay him in disbelief, trying to ascertain if he was joking. "You want me to stay here and play nurse maid?"

"Yes!" Seth said with a laugh, and now she knew he was just trying to rile her all along. "Come on Summer, be a good Samaritan."

She surprised him – and herself actually – by walking to the sink and running a glass of water in silence. She went to the medicine cupboard and popped out a few capsules of paracetemol, and grabbed a packet of Hunky Dorys from the counter. She set the food and drink down in front of him and placed the tablets in his open hand. He smiled his thanks and the corners of her lips upturned slightly, sweetly, in return.

"Take a shower Cohen," she said. "Your hair does not look good."

Seth grinned as she left.

* * *

I'm finished my exams so i should have more time to update now than i have had all this year - i promise that The Road to Nowhere is next to be updated! Anyway, i'm really enjoying this story and i definitely want to continue it if there is suficient interest, so, leave me a comment if you have a minute :) 


	10. Chapter 9

I've been trying to get this uploaded for like 3 days! It's more or less a "linking" chapter, so hope it's ok. More soon :)

* * *

Ryan, leaning forward on the sofa in a pose of total concentration, winced as his ninja met a sudden and brutal death. Seth leaned back in relaxed satisfaction and sighed contentedly. Another job well done.

"So, I had kind of a …uh… weird encounter with Summer the other day," Seth mentioned casually, as his brother handed him a Mountain Dew.

"At work or at school?" Ryan responded, taking a long gulp himself.

"Neither. Here, actually."

"Here?"

"After The Ice Wharf last week," Seth clarified. "You were at Marissa's."

The other boy nodded in understanding. "So what happened, man?"

"Well…." Despite the fact that Seth was the one to initiate this conversation, he suddenly seemed awkward. "It's kind of a long story dude, and I know you don't wanna hear it, so I'll just cut to the important bit. See, while Summer and I were walking home the other night I – I sort of kissed her."

Ryan's face remained perfectly still for a second, before erupting into a low chuckle. "God. Seth," he looked at his brother sceptically. "What made you think Summer would respond well to that? I mean – not to put too fine a point on it, man – but she sort of hates your guts. Dude, even _I_ would have known that she didn't want you to kiss her."

Seth began loading up the PS2 for another round. "That's just the thing Ryan," he said, clearly bewildered. "I think she kinda did. I mean, there was one point where I was like k-"

"Seth." Ryan held up his palm imploringly. "No details."

He rolled his eyes in response. "Whatever. The point is, she was into it, man. I mean, she denied it obviously but-"

"Wait, hold up. You guys have talked since it happened?"

"Oh yeah, she was straight round the next morning, banging on the door like a goddamn JCB."

Ryan smiled. "So how'd that go?"

Seth appeared to weigh up the situation before concluding, "Not so bad actually. I mean, she yelled at me," he said, as though stating the obvious, "but then she gave me Aspirin and hangover food."

Ryan stared at his brother, his eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. "You two are so completely unhinged," he proclaimed eventually.

Seth sighed heavily. "Well, I'm probably gonna see her at work this week and I don't really know how to act around her. Like, how does she want me to act? I mean, she seemed to just want things to go back to normal the other day, but what's normal Ryan? Trading insults and jokes just to see what the other person's gonna say? Or does she want us to be friends now?"

On receiving absolutely no indication in one direction or the other from his brother, Seth continued. "Maybe I should just ignore her then … but maybe that would piss her off – I _do not_ want to piss her off.

There was a pause in the conversation, as Ryan processed Seth's incessant babbling. When he finally spoke, it seemed to be something of an epiphanic moment for him. "You're actually into this one, aren't you? Like, genuinely."

"What?"

"Look," he continued pragmatically. "You've probably kissed a million girls after a million different parties, but just look at yourself after one drunken encounter with Summer Roberts. You're like, thirteen." Ryan nodded, as if he had satisfied himself fully with such compelling evidence. "Yeah, I mean, I don't know what it is dude, because she barely tolerates you most days and frankly I think she's kinda scary, but for whatever reason, you really like her." Ryan smiled smugly.

Seth sighed again, wishing he could be as certain of his own feelings as Ryan now seemed to be. Maybe he just needed to shake himself out of it. Ryan was right – Summer was a lot of hard work, and there were plenty of much lower maintenance potential girlfriends around campus. Because that's all Summer was – right? Another pretty girl. Just a pretty girl with a smart mouth.

Seth took a deep breath. Yeah, he was over-thinking it. Summer Roberts was nothing to get worked up over, and he had successfully avoided all forms of relationship drama thus far in life, so why start for her? He drained the last of his Mountain Dew and pointed towards the screen with his control pad. "You wanna go again?" he asked, putting all thoughts of a certain Miss Roberts out of his head.

* * *

"Hello Summer!" Seth exclaimed jovially as he breezed past her desk the following Monday.

She glanced up at him. "Cohen."

"How goes it in alphabetizing?" he asked, undeterred.

"Fabulous," she deadpanned. "We've had a big influx of clients for the "N – S" drawer so it's party on. How goes it in coffee-making? Ready to move on to a Starbucks anytime soon?"

"And miss this kind of quality time with you my little Summer?" he smiled as she rolled her eyes. "I think I'm gonna stick around - Mr Sheridan from Personal Injuries thinks I've finally mastered his froth."

"Your parents must be so proud," Summer replied sweetly.

"I know. Imagine my delight when I think about how that _won't _help me get into law school," he called, already half way up the corridor.

Once he was out of sight, Summer couldn't help but smile a little. Truth be told she had been kind of nervous about seeing him again – the thought of their already somewhat volatile relationship worsening just sounded too much like hard work to Summer, and between her stupid job and her stupid mid-terms, she really had plenty to be going on with. However, contrary to her expectations, it now seemed as if she and Seth were kind of … well, not friends exactly, but definitely civil. _Friendly_, even. Huh. She had not seen that one coming.

* * *

When Marissa arrived home later that evening and popped her head into her friend's room, Summer was already six pages into a lit paper. "You make me feel so guilty," she groaned, "I haven't even started researching that."

Summer smiled. "It's not so bad once you get into it."

"Well, I brought dinner!" Marissa replied brightly, brandishing a pizza box. "… To make up for abandoning you all day. What'd you get up to anyways?"

"Nothing," Summer left her work and followed her friend to the table. "I had to work until three and then I got started on that essay."

"Well, I know something that's gonna make you happy!"

Her mouth full of pizza, Summer just raised her eyebrows in question.

"When Ryan and I were out we met Liza – she just got back from her dad's office and she got us all tickets for that festival thing she mentioned the other night, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Summer had forgotten about it actually, but she'd read an article about it a few weeks previously, and it sounded like a pretty good line-up. "That's so awesome, Coop! Remind me to IM her later. So when is this thing anyway – must be pretty soon now right?"

"Yeah," Marissa rooted around in her purse, before emerging with an envelope and handing it to Summer. "It's the Saturday after next – here's your ticket."

Summer smiled broadly, reading the ticket. "This is so cool – thank you. Did Ryan get one too?"

"Yep, Liza totally came through for us – she got tickets for Ryan and Seth both … that's, uh, not gonna be a problem for you is it?"

"You mean about Seth?" Summer asked. "It's cool. I think he's into this kind of music so I'm sure he'll be pretty psyched about the whole thing," she said, sounding so genuinely nonchalant that Marissa couldn't help but look surprised.

"Seth and I had kind of an … incident," Summer explained. "But the whole thing just made me realise, Seth Cohen is really not worth getting worked up over – I mean, yeah, I might not love the guy, but he's not the spawn of Satan either so I'm just gonna leave him to his life and he can leave me to mine."

"That's very … mature."

"Seriously," Summer continued. "From now on, I don't care where he works, I don't care who he's dating – it's none of my business. If I see him – when I see him – I'm just going to be polite and normal – that's it." She paused for breath and looked towards her friend, who still looked rather baffled. "So yeah, we should be fine for the festival."

* * *

Boring! I know! But don't worry, fun stuff is coming :p 


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